The very best from the world of smooth jazz and classic soul.

January 31, 2012

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, smooth jazz collective Groove 55 are all set to make a musical splash with the brand new CD ‘A La Carte’. The first track to be offered to radio is the languidly attractive ‘Desert Moon’ which is contemporary jazz on the serious side and perfectly shows off the combined talents of Yves Adam on sax, keyboard player Jacques Mignault, Yves Nadeau on bass and drummer Daniel Lemay.

Together they bring decades of music experience to the project. For example Nadeau is a veteran of the Montreal Jazz scene and has played hundreds of shows all over Quebec with his bands Solstice & Expresso yet ‘A La Carte’ could well be the next chapter in the story.

January 29, 2012

Back in October, Smooth Jazz Therapy shone its all embracing spotlight on guitarist Reza Khan. Born in Bangladesh and now located in New York, Kahn draws on influences as varied as Pat Metheny, the Rippingtons and Acoustic Alchemy while the track ‘Language Of Love’, from his latest CD ‘A Simple Plan’ features the always excellent Andy Snitzer on sax.

January 27, 2012

It was almost two years ago, when reviewing the debut CD, ‘First Impressions’, from saxophonist Hulon, that I described him as being far from your typical contemporary jazz performer. Indeed, an entrepreneur by day and a sax player by night, he has a successful medical practice in Panama Beach, FL and is a founder member of the Florida based band ‘On Call’. ‘First Impressions’ was produced by none other than Jeff Kashiwa and now Hulon is back with his follow up, ‘After Hours’. It is due for release on February 7 and again has Kashiwa playing a significant part as writer, producer and back-up performer.

January 25, 2012

Scott Allman hails from Illinois and is all set to make a big splash with his debut CD ‘Generations’. It’s ten, self penned, tracks indicate that he has a flair for melodic contemporary jazz and the first single from the album demonstrates this to perfection. Titled ‘Flurry’ it features the ubiquitous Darren Rahn on sax whose own new release, ‘Speechless’, will hit the streets on March 27.

January 23, 2012

Long before the term ‘smooth jazz’ had been invented, the collaborations between Bob James and Earl Klugh were doing much to shape what followed. The seminal albums that they recorded together were memorable not only for the magical quality of the music but also because of the simple yet innovative art work that was used to adorn each sleeve. For the 1979 ‘One on One’ that image was of a match book. Thirteen years later ‘Cool’ predictably displayed a cucumber. The subject of this retrospective, the 1982 ‘Two Of A Kind’, was illustrated with a pair of aces. In fact, as a partnership or as solo artists this is exactly what James and Klugh were, a pair of musical aces, and ‘Two Of A Kind’, does much to demonstrate why.

January 21, 2012

Now it’s official. Ripa Records will release ‘East Bay Soul 2.0’ by trumpeter and songwriter Greg Adams on February 28, 2012. His signature sound is stamped front back and center over the album’s ten choice tracks which, comprising an equal mix of instrumental and vocal songs, prove to be a fine blend of funk, jazz, R&B and soul.
With a nod to the music Adams loves, and inked in his own inimitable style, he has created a collection that is both relevant and fresh. Indeed Greg takes the listener on an incredible ride that is groove driven, woven with his trademark horn melodies and, along the way, includes some wonderful soul drenched vocals. Make no mistake, these are songs that are often dynamic, sometimes dreamy, occasionally cinematic but all entirely to fall in love with.

January 19, 2012

Smooth Jazz Therapy has followed the career of Quintin Gerard W since 2004 and the release of his debut CD ‘Fnkysax’. At the time I described the album as having an urban slant of which Boney James would be proud and when in 2006 he returned with the equally appealing ‘Perseverance’, it provided a further chance for would be fans to discover his exquisite brand of mellow, hypnotic grooves. Now, six years on, he is staking another claim to solo stardom with the warmly seductive ‘Before It’s Gone’.

January 17, 2012

It might still be January, but 2012 is already shaping up as a big year for contemporary jazz. The latest indication of this comes in the form of the album ‘It’s Love’ by the always impeccable Eric Marienthal which is lined up for release on January 31. ‘It’s Love’ has been produced by Chuck Loeb and features guest performances from Brian Culbertson, Jeff Lorber, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Loeb himself.

The project's first single, ‘Get Here’, is Eric's stunning instrumental interpretation of the Brenda Russell composition which in its time proved to be a massive hit for Oleta Adams. Those who have seen Adams perform this song live will need no reminding of the emotion that she packs into each and every note so there can be no finer complement than to say Marienthal’s version does all this and more. It’s a spine chilling masterpiece and is sure to be in my listing of the year’s top covers.

January 15, 2012

‘Alma Vieja’ is the latest CD from guitar virtuoso Russ Hewitt and is replete with the rumba flamenco rhythms and lightning guitar runs that have become trademarks of his distinctive style. The project also includes a stellar line up of backing musicians including former Miami Sound Machine percussionist Raphael Padilla and drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr who in his time has played with both Santana and Ricky Martin. They are joined by bass player Bob Parr and exciting flamenco guitar prodigy Alfredo Caceres while other significant contributions come from contemporary jazz saxophonist Michael Lington and Grammy award-winning violinist Charlie Bisharat who has graced the stage with heavyweights such as The Rolling Stones Yanni and Aerosmith.

January 13, 2012

Born of an Austrian father and Hungarian mother, LA based saxophonist and producer Reinhold Schwarzwald is staking a claim for solo fame with the tasty new radio single ‘Sunset’. Produced by the genre defining recording artist Patrice Rushen, and with a hook that is seriously infectious, this ultra commercial cut has already found its way into regular rotation at the Los Angeles radio station 94.7 KTWV The Wave.

In fact this intoxicatingly mid tempo tune comes from Schwarzwald’s recently re-released CD of the same name for which he wrote or co-wrote nine of the eleven songs. It provides a superb showcase for his ultra smooth talents and is embellished by a stellar line-up of backing musicians including none other than contemporary jazz guitarist Doc Powell.

January 11, 2012

It was in 1963 that legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane collaborated with vocalist Johnny Hartman to create an album of romantic standards which has since been described as being essential for all jazz collections. Simply titled ‘John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman’, and with a running time of only thirty minutes, it comprised six classic compositions from the likes of Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn and Billy Strayhorn.

Fast forward almost fifty years to Grammy winning sax-man Kirk Whalum who has re-recorded the complete collection, added four more tracks and, with the help of younger brother Kevin Whalum, delivered the truly sensational ‘Romance Language’.

January 09, 2012

As 2011 was winding to its close all the buzz was about the legendary Stanley Clarke and the signings he had made to his fledgling record label Roxboro Entertainment. The first of these to catch the attention of Smooth Jazz Therapy was guitarist Lloyd Gregory. Now comes the turn of Kennard Ramsey and his CD ‘Somos’. Ramsey is a Los Angeles based writer and musician who has worked extensively in the film and record industry. His compositions have been characterized by the integration of contemporary music genres with those more traditional and for his innovative use of synthesizer and orchestra. ‘Somos’ affords Ramsey the opportunity to demonstrate the eclectic nature of his musical tastes and suffice to say he grabs it with both hands.

January 07, 2012

Seems like there is a campaign going on to take CD titles made famous by Boney James and re-use them for other projects, First we had ‘Shine’ from that excellent sax-player Marcin Nowakowski and now, hot on its heels, come ‘Pure’ from Michael Lington. It will be released February 14th on the Trippin N' Rhythm label and has been described elsewhere as an “organic soul jazz album” which was recorded live with Rickey Minor and the Tonight band. Guests include heavy hitters such as Michael Bolton, Lee Ritenour, Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson, Ray Parker Jr, Jeff Golub and Paul Jackson Jr. The first single, ‘Road Trip’, will be serviced to radio on January 9 and features Ritenour on guitar. It’s full of the gutsy ‘in your face’ playing for which Lington is best known and comes highly recommended.

January 05, 2012

As if from no-where, the pairing of Robert Berry and Andi Schenck, aka Roan Soul, has burst onto the scene with not one but two brand new albums. Titled ‘Walk The World’ and ‘Redefining’ the collective twenty two self penned tracks are a fine blend of the rock, pop, R & B and influences that have shaped their respective careers yet, paradoxically, the outcome of this exquisite coming together is a wonderful example of what might be termed ‘blue eyed’ soul, all presented in the best traditions of bands such as Hall & Oates, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Ambrosia.

January 03, 2012

Since the release of ‘Smooth Night’ in 2005, Smooth Jazz Therapy has followed the career of saxophonist Marcin Nowakowski with interest. A well known performer in his native Poland, Marcin’s 2009 follow-up, ‘Better Days’ came as a direct result of a visit he made to Los Angeles and the opportunity it afforded to work with some of the genre’s A-list musicians including both Paul Brown and Jeff Lorber. In the ultra competitive market of smooth jazz saxophone ‘Better Days’ proved to be an outstanding achievement and as if to demonstrate this was no flash in the pan he has reunited with Brown and Lorber for the even better ‘Shine’.

January 01, 2012

The smooth jazz cover has, in recent years, become something of an art form. Far removed from a straight forward copy of another artists work, these re-imaginings have breathed new life into music that, typically, originated in the classic soul era of the 60’s and 70’s. Even these boundaries have, of late, been frayed so, by way of paying homage to the very best that this sub genre has to offer, here is my very personal top ten Smooth Jazz Therapy covers of 2011.

‘Love Letter’ by Kim Waters from his album ‘This Heart Of Mine’. This smoking rendition of R. Kelly’s sumptuous blockbuster is right up there with the best that the collection has to offer.

‘Lady’ by Randy Scott from the CD ‘90 Degrees At Midnight’. Scott’s groove drenched interpretation of D'Angelo’s 1996 hit is a real urban smoker and an instant candidate for best track on the album.

Read on for the remainder of this year’s top ten covers. If you have your own list of favorite covers from 2011 why not e-mail it to me at denis.poole@yahoo.com. Happy New Year!!